Today I took the time to clear off my mantel. It usually serves as a repository for confiscated toys and other small junk that I am too lazy to put away. So today I cleared it all off and dusted it and then added some lights and greenery. We are choosing not to do a Christmas tree this year for a variety of reasons, but I really miss the atmosphere of the lights, so this helped things feel more like Christmas. Our advent candles also finally came today, so I got to add those to our homemade wreath as well.

It’s nothing fancy, but these things add some beauty to our life. Sometimes I am only looking for beauty outside of my control, but the truth is that God has given us an amazing ability to create beauty ourselves. Let’s not waste that gift. In this time of my life I have very little time to be as creative as I’d like to be, but I want to make sure to treasure the small ways that I can add a little bit of beauty to our everyday life and to be thankful that God has allowed us to contribute to his world in that way.